There are many uses for computers having very high computational powers. Uses include simulating how large physical systems act and interact, performing circuit simulation of very large integrated circuits, wind tunnel simulation, 3-dimensional modeling, solving stream matching problems and nearest neighbor problems, DNA and protein sequencing, and solving many other problems in industry and the sciences.
Not only are there many needs for a computer having a high computational power, but there are also many needs for a reliable computer having a very high computational power that also can perform its functions in a small volume. One example of an application for such a high performance computer is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the type typically used for surveillance and reconnaissance and remote sensing. Such a UAV has both civil and military applications. In one typical usage, the UAV flies over an area and uses a multitude of sensors, detectors and cameras to gather information about the area. The collected information is then often analyzed, at least to some degree, to determine whether an additional action should be taken. If an object of interest is determined to be present, for example, then the UAV may be directed to circle the object of interest and gather more information. Due to weight, size and power limitations attendant in having a high performance computer on-board some UAVs, it has sometimes not been possible to provide enough computational power within the UAV to determine in real time whether the information being gathered is indicative of an object of interest. The information therefore needs to be analyzed on the ground. Video information is typically analyzed by humans to determine whether the video contains images of any objects of interest. Large computers located on the ground may assist in this operation.
Unfortunately, the communication bandwidth between the flying UAV and the control base on the ground where the analysis is to be performed is often inadequate to stream all the gathered information back to the control base for analysis. It is therefore often necessary to have the UAV record the gathered information on-board the UAV, and to have the UAV return to the control base. The gathered information is then downloaded from the UAV and is analyzed. If an object of interest is identified, then the UAV may be made to fly back over the area of the object of interest. Due to the delay in this process, the object may have moved and may no longer be available for surveillance by the time the UAV returns. The delay and cost associated with having to analyze the gathered information on the ground is undesirable.
If, on the other hand, a computer having a computational power of 0.5 teraflops per second and high speed input/output capabilities were on-board the UAV, then the UAV could prescreen and analyze the information being gathered in real time. If the on-board computer were to detect an object of interest, then the limited communication bandwidth available from the airborne UAV to the control base could be used to send just the gathered information that pertains to the detected object. Upon verification of the object by a human and/or equipment on the ground at the control base, the control base could instruct the UAV to take appropriate action while the UAV is still aloft over the object of interest.
If a computational power of 0.5 teraflops per second were realized using conventional printed circuit boards bearing high performance instruction-executing microprocessors of the Pentium 3 architecture, then the resulting system would require approximately two hundred Pentium 3 microprocessors and would likely occupy a volume of more than twenty-seven thousand cubic inches if realized using rack-mounted equipment. Not only would such a conventional system be unrealistically large and heavy to place in the UAV, but the system would consume over fifteen thousand watts of electrical energy. Providing the regulated DC power necessary to provide this very large amount electrical energy would add tremendous additional weight and size to the system. The conventional computational density of 0.5 teraflops/27,000 cubic inches is too low for the UAV application described above.
A reliable and high performance computer that has a computational power of more than 0.5 teraflops per second, that is reliable, that has high speed input/output capabilities, that consumes a manageable amount of electrical power, and that performs all these functions in a space of less than two hundred cubic inches is desired. Such a computer could be provided in a UAV so that the computer could detect an object of interest in real time while the UAV is flying over the object of interest. In addition, such a high computational density high performance computer would have many other important uses including applications in the sciences, in industry, and in other security and other military applications.